The present invention relates to a dispenser for dispensing a fluid, the dispenser comprising a dispenser member such as a pump or a valve, a container with a neck, and a fixing member for fixing the dispenser member to the neck. This type of dispenser is in frequent use in the field of pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, or perfumes for dispensing fluids, e.g. in spray form. To fix the pump or the valve to the neck of the container, a fixing member is used that is commonly designated by the term xe2x80x9cfixing ringxe2x80x9d. In general, such a ring co-operates with the outside of the neck and is provided with a recess for receiving the body of the pump or of the valve, e.g. by snap-fastening. The fixing ring is also provided with a skirt which co-operates with the outside of the neck: the most commonly used techniques are screwing, snap-fastening, or crimping. The present invention more particularly concerns snap-fastening.
In this fixing technique (snap-fastening), it is known that the skirt of the ring can be provided either with a continuous inside snap-fastening bead, or with separate snap-fastening heads disposed at the bottom ends of snap-fastening tabs, so that the skirt is split. In general, the snap-fastening heads or the snap-fastening bead co-operate with a shoulder formed by the outside wall of the neck. A conventional design for a container neck consists in forming the top end of the neck with a reinforced outside portion that may be referred to as a xe2x80x9crim lipxe2x80x9d. The snap-fastening tabs or the snap-fastening bead are thus suitable for coming into engagement under the rim lip, where said lip forms a shoulder.
Naturally, it is important to provide sealing at the neck of the container in order to prevent the fluid from leaking between the neck and the fixing ring. One known technique consists in disposing a gasket at the top end of the neck, that gasket being compressed by an annular flange formed by the ring and that may be referred to as a xe2x80x9cwebxe2x80x9d. Such a gasket is omitted from certain dispensers, in which the sealing is provided directly by contact between the ring and the neck of the container. In order to obtain good sealing by direct contact, it is necessary for the neck of the container to be made of a material that is harder than the material of the ring: in general, the container is made of glass, and the ring is made of a molded plastics material. The sealing can be provided either at the top end of the neck that is in contact with the web of the ring, or at the shoulder of the rim lip. In both cases, the sealing is axial, and it is necessary to exert a strong traction or thrust force on the ring in the axial direction of the container in order to obtain the sealing. To achieve the traction or thrust, a trim band is often used that covers the fixing ring, and that serves as a thrust member to force the snap-fastening tabs and heads to come into engagement under the rim lip of the neck. Therefore, the sealing is not achieved until the trim band is mounted on the fixing ring.
An object of the present invention is to remedy the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art by defining a dispenser in which the fixing member provides sealing at the neck without needing to deform the skirt or the snap-fastening tabs.
To this end, the present invention provides a dispenser for dispensing a fluid, the dispenser comprising a dispenser member, a container with a neck, and a fixing member for fixing the dispenser member to the neck, said fixing member forming a skirt defining an inside wall serving to co-operate with an outside peripheral surface of the neck, in which dispenser peripheral sealing means are disposed between said inside wall and said outside peripheral surface.
Advantageously, the inside wall and the outside surface are substantially cylindrical. Since the sealing means are interposed between two surfaces that are substantially cylindrical, the sealing is radial rather than axial, as it is in the prior art. It is thus not necessary to exert a thrust or a traction force on the ring in order to obtain sealing that is effective. The sealing means thus perform two functions, namely their intrinsic sealing function, and the function of fixing means, enabling the skirt to be fastened effectively to the outside of the neck. It is thus possible to fix the ring to the neck without any snap-fastening heads or any snap-fastening bead at all. It is also possible for the neck to be formed without any reinforced portion or rim lip. Thus, the design of the ring and of the neck is much simpler.
In one embodiment, the sealing means comprise a continuous annular sealing rib formed on the outside peripheral surface of the neck and suitable for coming to bite in the inside wall of the skirt. In which case, the neck of the container is preferably made of a material that is harder than the material of the skirt of the fixing member, so that the continuous annular sealing rib penetrates into the inside wall of the skirt by causing the material of the skirt to creep therearound. In the final position, i.e. when the top end of the neck comes into contact with the web of the fixing member, the rib provides annular sealing and simultaneously fixes the skirt to the neck effectively.
In another embodiment, the inside wall of the skirt is provided with a continuous annular sealing gasket suitable for being crushed against the outside peripheral surface of the neck. Advantageously, the gasket is fixed in a recess formed by the inside wall of the skirt. In one version, the outside peripheral surface of the neck is provided with a continuous annular groove suitable for receiving the annular gasket. In another version, the neck forms an outwardly-projecting reinforced portion, said outside peripheral surface being formed by the reinforced portion, said skirt forming a snap-fastening bead suitable for coming into engagement under the reinforced portion. Preferably, the snap-fastening bead forms the bottom portion of the recess for receiving the gasket.
In all of the embodiments, the sealing means constitute fixing means for fixing the skirt to the neck.